Belma Hops

bleme said:

I suspect your SG should be 1.048 but this is similar to what I plan to try.

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You sir are correct. A little lsydexic apparently. Thanks for the correction!

sweetcell said:

i've experienced some really weird smells from hopsdirect bags. i've come to the conclusion that it's the gas they use to flush the bags. luckily the smell (or flavor) doesn't carry over to the hops once they are used in a boil or dry-hop.

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This is good news. Just popped open my bag of belma to throw a palm full of cones into my glass of DIPA (a drunken tradition), and I was definitely getting some oniony cheesy notes.

Just got my hops today- Northern Brewer, Bravo, Belma, and Centennial. Can't wait to make a nice APA with these, and probably a hoppy saison too. What are you guys liking for grist to compliment the Belma? I was going to go malty and on the darker side for the APA.

daksin said:

What are you guys liking for grist to compliment the Belma?

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My first one is still in the primary and I haven't taken a sample yet. For that one I went with an IPA and all Belma hops. I used a very basic grain bill, neutral yeast and a relatively low mash temperature. It's great reading everyone’s descriptions of this hop, but I brewed this to get a firsthand idea of what this hop has to offer, either as a standalone or if it might need other hops to compliment it.

I know that I should wait for the results from the first batch, but I might get to brew tomorrow and am thinking about a Red Rye with Belma. I’m only guessing that the softer character of Belma discribed here will go well with rye and not overpower it or just not balance correctly the way some other hops do when combined with rye.

Has anyone done the Belma / Rye combination? Results?

Pale malt,crystal 60,wheat

AnOldUR said:

Has anyone done the Belma / Rye combination? Results?

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I've dryhopped 5 gallons of a rye pale ale (~25% rye) with 3 oz of Belma and thought it really brought out the peppery nature of the rye. Any other added flavors were subtle enough that I didn't notice them. The hops used at boil were Perle @ 60 for bittering and Cascade @ 5 for flavor.

(I also just put a Roggenbier into secondary that I had bittered with 0.5 ounce of Belma. The sample tasted great, but there wasn't really any hop flavor to it -- which is, of course, what I wanted.)

I brewed one up late last night, a APA if you will.

2 row, with a bit of munich, vienna, and dash of C40.

I dubbed it Belma's Galaxy APA.

FWH Belma leaf

Then didn't add anything until 10 minutes;

Galaxy, Belma pellets @ 10
Cascade leaf @ 7
Belma pellet @ 5
Galaxy pellet @ 1
Belma pellet @ Flameout

Belma pellet @ whirlpool/cooling

I plan to dry hop it with 1oz Belma leaf, and 1 oz Galaxy pellet.

1.065 OG, bittered to 52 IBU. A bit high for a APA, but I used the BRY-97 weast coast yeast that floccs so hard it mutes the hops a bit, from what I found in a DIPA I did.

Smelled great, figured I'd be able to see how Belma bitters, flavors, and mingles with other hops..

Had a earthy berry nose while boiling. Slight tart melon notes.

FATC1TY said:

1.065 OG, bittered to 52 IBU. A bit high for a APA . . .

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Yeah, I'd call that a solid IPA.

Just don't tell your friends it's a session APA or you'll be driving them home.

Sounds delicious! Look forward to hearing how it turns out.

AnOldUR said:

Yeah, I'd call that a solid IPA.

Just don't tell your friends it's a session APA or you'll be driving them home.

Sounds delicious! Look forward to hearing how it turns out.

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My IPA's are normally 65-90 IBU's. So to me, this one will be a nice APA. I bumped the calculated IBU's up, mainly because of my yeast choice, and what I've read and seen in using it myself. Should end up knocking roughly 5-7% of the calculated IBU's down, so I'll settle in the mid, high 40's.

I overshot my OG though, was looking for 1.060, but it's whatever!

I thought about doing a red rye IPA with belma simcoe and Amarillo. I know the others might overpower the belma but hearing others describe this hop sounds like it might be best combined with other hops.

Dry hopped Belma single hop petite saison, half with Belma only and the other with Belma/Saaz/Strisselspalt. I'm really digging Belma as an added dimension. Makes fruity hops seem less like one fruit and more like fruit salad, spicy a spice blend, etc. when I pull samples next week, I bet ill add a pinch of Nelson or sorachi to the currently Belma only carboy.

The more I try my apa, the more I get strawberries and cream. It has a nice cream finish in my opinion. I added some of my all Belma apa to my Amarillo and Citra hop burst apa and it added some nice cream notes to the finish. Kind of an orange creamsicle flavor.

So I'm back to update my dryhop criticism from a week or so ago:

The Pale Ale I made and dryhopped with Belma is actually quite good. The original flavor of the hops was really grassy, but it mellowed with time and is now more earthy and pungent...still not at all like a citra IMHO, although I did include a bit of citra in the finishing hop additions of this beer.

I think it makes a great pale ale, and I'd probably mix in a bit more Citra or maybe Amarillo next time to balance the earthiness out with some citrus.

I DO think the Farmhouse/Saison is a great beer for this hop....and will give that a try this summer probably.

Belma is ok. I probably won't dryhop too much with it, but my largely Belma Pale Ale is a fine beer, and Belma deserves the credit that goes with it.

It was a great 10 buck purchase (2 lbs)!!!!

Sounds like a match made for some funky saisons in the summer. I'll load one up with some Amarillo and I think it'll be good.

Just tasted wheat wine with belma/brewer's gold/nelson - fruit forward with a hoppy finish, goes well with WLP530.

Single Hop Belma petite saison & same dry hopped with belma/saaz/strisselspalt - The single hop has more muted character, the combo dry hop has a little bit more pop to it. Going to toss some oak in for the next week and then I guess it's time to keg.

Anyone tried Belma/Sorachi? Picked up the last 2 lbs of hops I'm buying this year at post office and looking for an excuse to open the sorachi.

Someone I read somewhere said they had a pro brewer comment that it's similar to a Galaxy type hop.

Funny that I figured the two would pair well, thats what I brewed.

FATC1TY said:

Someone I read somewhere said they had a pro brewer comment that it's similar to a Galaxy type hop.

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I find that pretty unlikely. Galaxy is huge, in your face passionfruit and citrus, while I think the consensus on Belma is milder citrus, berries and pungent earthiness (which I definitely don't get with Galaxy). I just can't see Belma being even close to Galaxy given what people are saying about it.

I just cracked open my Belma experiment, I must say this is a dang fine Brew! I intended it to be an IPA but it taste more like a strong Pale with a nice hoppy finish. I will post my recipe below for those that would like to try it. I think this may become my go to Pale.......

Engine Company 79 I.P.A.
Added By: bambam26
Method: All Grain
Style: American IPA
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source: Bambam
Original Gravity: 1.062 Final Gravity: 1.015 ABV (standard): 6.2% IBU (tinseth): 92.55 SRM (morey): 8.29
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable
12 lb Pale 2-Row
0.5 lb Caramel / Crystal 80L
0.25 lb Carapils (Dextrine Malt)
0.5 lb Munich - Light 10L
13.25 lb Total
Hops
Amount Variety Time AA Type Use
2 oz Belma 60 min 12.1 Leaf/Whole Boil
1 oz Cascade 10 min 7 Leaf/Whole Boil
1 oz Belma 3 min 12.1 Leaf/Whole Boil
1 oz Cascade 0 min 7 Leaf/Whole Aroma
1 oz Belma 7 days 12.1 Leaf/Whole Dry Hop
1 oz Cascade 7 days 7 Leaf/Whole Dry Hop
Mash Steps
Amount Description Type Temp Time
16 qt mash for 60 minutes/then drain first runnings Temperature 154 F 60 min
24 qt stir then drain after 20 mins Temperature 190 F 20 min
Yeast
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001

Looks like a solid recipe bambam. Seems like belma and cascade is a winning combo from alotta posts here. I just dry hopped an amber ipa (cascade, Willamette, Columbus) with 1.5 oz each cascade and belma. Can't wait to tap that keg next week!

I brewed a double american black ale this past weekend and it was my first time getting into these hops. I bittered with Columbus and did flavor and aroma additions with belma and motueka, 2:1 belma to motueka additions. The impression I got from tasting the wort and smelling the wort was a very herbal spicy tea. Maybe some lemon in there. Definitely a different hop than it was originally described as, but not too shabby at all. I still plan on a single hop beer with it, but so far it has me intrigued.

Horseballs said:

I brewed a double american black ale this past weekend and it was my first time getting into these hops. I bittered with Columbus and did flavor and aroma additions with belma and motueka, 2:1 belma to motueka additions. The impression I got from tasting the wort and smelling the wort was a very herbal spicy tea. Maybe some lemon in there. Definitely a different hop than it was originally described as, but not too shabby at all. I still plan on a single hop beer with it, but so far it has me intrigued.

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My wort smelled that way with belma too. Once fermented though it was just a hint of spice and a nice berry/citrus up front.

When I tasted my wort I didn't like it at all, but the outcome was one of my best beers ever.......

So when are we going to have the Belma Cup homebrew comp?

TNGabe said:

So when are we going to have the Belma Cup homebrew comp?

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Here is my [all Belma] entry

Love the color and clarity!


Hey, what's that countertop? Very nice.

AnOldUR said:

Love the color and clarity!


Hey, what's that countertop? Very nice.

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Thanks! Not sure what kind of granite it is.

I'm sending a bottle of this out for the Secret Santa Swap. It's def. got that Belma Strawberry thing going on. FWIW - Belma is a super clean bittering hop.

I like a countertop with character like that. We have soapstone.

My Belma is at primary cold crashing. Later in the week I'll move it to secondary for dry hopping. Looking forward to tasting a sample. Hope it looks as good as yours.

Jammin, is that the Zombie Dust Clone recipe? If not I'd love to see the grain bill as to how you achieved that color!

kpr121 said:

Jammin, is that the Zombie Dust Clone recipe? If not I'd love to see the grain bill as to how you achieved that color!

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Pretty much. Only deviations are Great Western Pale Ale Malt which is 2.7 lovibond and Caramunich III which is around 57 Lovibond. I usually have a fairly strong boil which I think helps add color as well.

Cheers,
~j

I think we should all do a 1st year Belma Hop beer trade/comp thing..

I've got a hoppy IPA with it, I think that would be fun.

Any thoughts on a Belma/N. Brewer hopped Best Bitter? Or perhaps Willamette/Belma? I'd like to give that a roll this weekend.

I'd be willamette and belma would pair well... maybe better than NB.. but I'm not huge on NB, except in my porter.

FATC1TY said:

I'd be willamette and belma would pair well... maybe better than NB.. but I'm not huge on NB, except in my porter.

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Dude - you gotta brew Janet's Brown Ale sometime. It uses a lot of NB and is one of the best beers Ive had.

Belamette!

My Belma/Cascade/Citra Begian Red is epic. Citrus, tropical fruit, earthy, berry, scrumptious-ness.

Next time I'm omitting the pale chocolate malt and making this LOOK like it tastes... Fruity Pebbles

FATC1TY said:

I think we should all do a 1st year Belma Hop beer trade/comp thing..

I've got a hoppy IPA with it, I think that would be fun.

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I'm in. Involved in another online beer swap and online tasting. Maybe we could do the same in a chat or skype? Would be fun to drink them all together and share feedback.

TNGabe said:

I'm in. Involved in another online beer swap and online tasting. Maybe we could do the same in a chat or skype? Would be fun to drink them all together and share feedback.

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damn - that would be fun!

drinking my last Belma IPA right now though

If we slated it for 2 or 3 months out I could easily be in.

One idea would be to agree on a similar recipe so we can try different takes on it. Allow everyone a little wiggle room on actual grains and yeast. Like say all should use some variation of california ale yeast (S05/1065/001/Denny's etc) or maybe an English yeast. Aim for +/- 5 points on a 1.060 beer. 85% 2-row (from Marris Otter to Pilsner) with the remaining 15% open to interpretation.

Maybe even send your beer out to 2 or 3 participants?

Could be a grand event fellas

Pick a category, say 6D, and all send to the same competition?
The only caveat being that we use Belma as the dominant hop.

Maybe one of the AHA Club-Only competitions. (Pretty sure HBT is a AHA club.)

Then post score sheets and recipes in a new thread here on HBT.
Plus we'd get to see how we do as a club.

2012-2013 Competition Year

January/February 2013
Un-Session Beers (OG>1.040)

Entries are due January 11, 2013 and judging will be held January 19, 2013. Entry fee is $7. Make checks payable to American Homebrewers Association.

Shipping AddressAHA COC
Barley Hopsters
43 N. Sandusky St
Delaware, OH 43015
(740) 417-4250

Hosted by Frank Barickman and the Scioto Olentangy and Darby Zymurgists (SODZ) club of Delaware, OH, this competition covers BJCP categories 1C-E, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6C, 7, 8C, 9D & E, 10, 12B & C, 13B-F, 14, 15, 16, 17B, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.

For more information, contact Frank Barickman at [email protected].

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AnOldUR said:

Pick a category, say 6D, and all send to the same competition?
The only caveat being that we use Belma as the dominant hop.

Maybe one of the AHA Club-Only competitions. (Pretty sure HBT is a AHA club.)

Then post score sheets and recipes in a new thread here on HBT.
Plus we'd get to see how we do as a club.

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That sounds pretty fun, though I'd be more inclined for everyone to do different categories. I'd be interested in exchanging entries with other interested HBTers, too.